I understand the general public not knowing what a REO is or defined as a 'bank REO' is. When a bank takes back a property through foreclosure, they get perks (thanks to politicians), such as 'safe harbor' which allows them to stiff other lien holders at pennies on the dollar -- which, in turn, escalates/amplifies the financial damage of the loan default into the community. Carson has no clue and he sounds half-baked.

Another common problem with REOs is the banks often don't take care of the property while it sits there for a year or more which runs down the value of other nearby properties and when it happens a few times in one area can destroy a neighborhood.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, in an exclusive interview with The Hill's Bob Cusack on Wednesday, defended his knowledge of government policy following a viral exchange in which he seemed to confuse a housing acronym with Oreo cookies.

"She asked me what the O is," Carson said on Wednesday. "We throw around acronyms all the time, particularly in government. You don’t really think about, 'What do the letters mean?' Of course I know what an REO is. Of course I know what the foreclosure portfolio is."

Carson's initial response after the House hearing was tongue in cheek, tweeting that he would send a pack of Oreos to Porter.

But on Wednesday Carson appeared to target Porter's line of questioning, saying, "One of the reasons that I told her I would like for her to meet with our people is because she was a subject matter expert in that 10 or 15 years ago."

"At that time we did have a lot of REO properties, we had over 65,000 of them. Now we have only about 6,500 and we do everything we can to keep families who are affected from foreclosure," he added. "Thats why the number is down so low. I think that she obviously is thinking about the way things used to be and has no idea what’s going on now."

Carson also criticized the aftermath of the exchange.

"They try to take those moments to ridicule people because they’ve probably read Saul Alinsky’s book and they know that’s one of the rules," he said. "I just hope for the sake of our young people, and for the sake of our nation in general, that we can move beyond the silliness and actually begin to address the problems.”

Katie Porter
Katherine Moore Porter[1] (born January 3, 1974) is an American law professor, attorney and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 45th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first Democrat to be elected to represent the district. Porter attended Harvard University and Yale University; she most recently taught at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

Early life and education
Porter was born on January 3, 1974, and grew up in a small farming community in Iowa.[2] Her father was a farmer-turned-banker.[3]

After graduating from Phillips Academy, Porter attended Yale University, where she majored in American studies.[4] Her undergraduate thesis was titled The Effects of Corporate Farming on Rural Community.[5]

Porter later attended Harvard Law School, where she studied under current U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, and graduated magna cum laude with her Juris Doctor in 2001.[3]

Career
In 2006, Porter joined the faculty of the University of Iowa College of Law.[6] In March 2012, California Attorney General Kamala Harris appointed Porter to be the state's independent monitor of banks in a nationwide $25 billion mortgage settlement.[7] As monitor, she oversaw the banks' implementation of $9.5 billion in settlement reforms for Californians.[8]

Porter is a tenured professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.[4] Her textbook Modern Consumer Law addresses consumer laws in light of Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.[9]

U.S. House of Representatives
In the 2018 elections, Porter ran for the United States House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Mimi Walters in California's 45th congressional district.[10][11] Porter defeated Walters[12] to become the first Democrat to represent the 45th district or its predecessors since it was created in 1953.[13][14] < snip >

Another common problem with REOs is the banks often don't take care of the property while it sits there for a year or more which runs down the value of other nearby properties and when it happens a few times in one area can destroy a neighborhood.

Very true. I have personal experience on that where the banks just ignored properties for YEARS after foreclosure. That causes blight. But, because they already got paid/gov bailout, there was no incentive to rehab/move the properties.

We are told by LE: If you see something, say something. -- I agree.If you see something, video record it, uploaded it, and say something!

Another common problem with REOs is the banks often don't take care of the property while it sits there for a year or more which runs down the value of other nearby properties and when it happens a few times in one area can destroy a neighborhood.

Very true. I have personal experience on that where the banks just ignored properties for YEARS after foreclosure. That causes blight. But, because they already got paid/gov bailout, there was no incentive to rehab/move the properties.

Sometimes they're holding them until there are enough to cause some government money or other development to come along and make the property more valuable, which happens enough in some areas. They sometimes don't pay the property taxes for long stretches, either which became a very big issue in Pittsburgh some years back. There were areas in the city where huge percentages of the certain areas were vacant housing, just setting there falling down, no taxes being paid and the city unable to afford to provide enforcement because they didn't have the money.